1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a clutch housing and bearing assembly and to the method of manufacturing such an assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to the construction of a dynamically balanced cup-shaped clutch housing having an integral smaller cup-shaped bearing housing with a bearing retained within the bearing housing, and to the method of roller spinning such a clutch housing and bearing assembly from a flat sheet metal disc, in which the bearing housing is roller spun over the bearing during spin forming of the clutch housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many procedures have been used and are known for the formation of clutch housings having a bearing retained in a hub portion thereof for rotatably mounting the clutch housing on a driving shaft of a clutch mechanism. Many of these procedures involve stamping and drawing operations to produce a cup-shaped clutch housing blank on which a bearing is mounted in an end wall portion thereof. Finished clutch housing and bearing assemblies which are produced by such prior stamping and drawing methods are not balanced dynamically since the cup-shaped blanks are formed by a series of progressive die steps on a non-rotating blank. Other procedures and apparatus, however, have been known for directly spinning cup-shaped housing blanks from flat sheet metal discs for producing dynamically balanced clutch housings.
Considerable expense and time consuming operations are required to mount the bearing on the cup-shaped housing blanks, whether the housing blanks are produced by stamping and drawing, or spinning operations. Heretofore, a cylindrical bearing retaining ring was brazed or welded within a complementary central opening in the end wall of the clutch housing, which retaining ring has one or more snap-ring grooves formed therein. Such retaining rings are expensive due to the machining and close tolerances required in their manufacture for receiving and holding a bearing. Likewise, after securing the retaining ring to the cup-shaped housing end wall, the bearing or bearings then are snap fitted into the grooves of the retaining ring, again requiring a separate manufacturing procedure, increasing the final cost.
A V-grooved pulley then is mounted on the extended end of the bearing retaining ring adjacent the end wall of the clutch housing by brazing or welding procedures. Again, such procedures are time consuming and require additional welding or brazing equipment for attaching the pulley, thereby inreasing still further the cost of the final clutch housing and pulley construction.
The clutch housing and bearing assemblies produced by these prior known procedures thus, consist of a clutch housing having a separate relatively expensive bearing retaining ring component welded or brazed thereto, which in turn receives a separate bearing element. These bearing assemblies may or may not include end sealing rings or discs to retain lubricant within the bearing, and to prevent dust and dirt from accummulating therein.
Insofar as we are aware, no clutch housing and bearing assembly has been known in the art having an integrally formed clutch housing with a preferably cylindrical side wall or rim flange portion which is adapted to be engaged by the clutch shoes of a clutch mechanism, in combination with a smaller cup-shaped bearing housing formed integrally with the rim flange portion of the clutch housing and in which a bearing is mounted and retained within the bearing housing without requiring additional components as heretofore required. Furthermore, no known method of which we are aware enables the production of such clutch housing and bearing assemblies by roller spinning, in which a bearing housing is roller spun over the bearing followed by the subsequent spinning of a larger cup-shaped clutch housing from a flat sheet metal disc on simple types of metal spinning machines, which assemblies are dynamically balanced due to the complete formation by roller spinning on rotating dies; and in which a pulley also can be attached to the bearing housing by roller spinning procedures performed on the same spinning machine eliminating heretofore required welding and brazing operations and equipment.